Rotational spectra and properties of complexes B···ICF3 (B = Kr or CO) and a comparison of the efficacy of ICl and ICF3 as iodine donors in halogen bond formation.

The ground-state rotational spectra of two weakly bound complexes B···ICF(3) (B = Kr or CO) formed by trifluoroiodomethane have been observed in pulsed jets by using two types of Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy (chirped-pulse and Fabry-Perot cavity). Both complexes exhibit symmetric-top type spectra, thus indicating that the Kr atom in Kr···ICF(3) and both the C and O atoms in OC···ICF(3) lie along the C(3) axis of ICF(3). The rotational constant B(0), the centrifugal distortion constants D(J) and D(JK), and the iodine nuclear quadrupole coupling constant χ(aa)(I) were determined for each of the isotopologues (84)Kr···ICF(3), (86)Kr···ICF(3), (16)O(12)C···ICF(3), (16)O(13)C···ICF(3), and (18)O(12)C···ICF(3). Interpretation of the spectroscopic constants reveals that the carbon atom of CO is adjacent to I and participates in the weak bond in OC···ICF(3). Simple models based on unperturbed component geometries lead to the distances r(Kr···I) = 3.830(1) Å and r(C···I) = 3.428(1) Å in Kr···ICF(3) and OC···ICF(3), respectively, and to the quadratic force constants for stretching of the weak bond k(σ) = 2.80 N m(-1) and 3.96 N m(-1), respectively. The distances r(Z···I) (Z is the acceptor atom in B), the k(σ) values, and the angular geometries of the pair of complexes B···ICF(3) and B···ICl for a given B are compared when B = Kr, CO, H(2)O, H(2)S, or NH(3). The comparison reveals that the iodine bond in B···ICF(3) is systematically longer and weaker than that of B···ICl, while the angular geometry of the B···I moiety is isomorphic in B···ICF(3) and B···ICl for a given B. It is concluded that -CF(3) is less effective than -Cl as an electron-withdrawing group when attached to an I atom and that the angular geometries of the B···ICF(3) can be predicted by means of a simple rule that holds for many hydrogen- and halogen-bonded complexes.